Latest News - Archive 2006

December 31. < http://barista.media2.org/?p=2884 >
'Biggest thing on the planet' (by David Tiley on the Barista) blog.
A further appreciation of Marie Tharp (who died earlier this year) and her underseas
maps, based on a New York Times article and a news release from Columbia University. It focuses
on her professional relationships with Bruce Heezen and Maurice (Doc) Ewing. For the earlier entry see in the Archive under 23 August 2006

Art donation to Rutgers includes maps of Hungary

December 29. <
http://www.upstagemagazine.com/articles/getarticle-new.php?ID=4245&wherefrom=mainpage
> 'Salgo Trust gives its collection to Rutgers' (Upstage Magazine).
'The largest and most important collection of 19th- and 20th-century Hungarian
art outside of Central Europe will be acquired by the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum
at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, as a gift from the Salgo Trust for Education
... In addition to the art works, the gift includes a collection of 16th- to 19th- century maps
of Central Europe ...'. No details of the maps are given but they presumably focus on Hungary.

Aluminium case to be supplied for the 1507 Waldseemüller map

December 23. < http://www.physorg.com/news86018408.html > "NIST to
Preserve 1507 Map: America's 'Birth Certificate'" (from Physorg.com).
The Library of Congress has 'partnered with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to
design a hermetically sealed encasement for the 12-sheet 1507 Waldseemüller map. The encasement
is designed to provide optimum accessibility for the public while preserving and securing the
document. NIST will supervise the construction of the case, which will be turned over to the
Library in 2007. The Library will display the map in the fall of 2007 as part of its "New
Visitors’ Experience" exhibit'. Technical details are supplied of the case, which will be six
times larger than that for the Bill of Rights.

Early atlases of Birmingham, Alabama to be scanned

December 21. <
http://bplolinenews.blogspot.com/2006/12/archives-will-digitize-birminghams.html > 'Archives
Will Digitize Birmingham's Founding Documents with New Overhead Scanner' (a press release dated
19 December). Birmingham Public Library’s Archives announces plans to
digitise various atlases including a volume containing 'the original maps and field notes of
the survey team that laid out Birmingham's streets in 1872.' Others to be scanned include the
Beers and Ellis Atlas of Birmingham (1887) and Baist's Property Atlas of Birmingham (1902).

A review of Old World Auctions

December 19. <
http://www.news-antique.com/?id=782063&keys=Maps-World-Auctions > '1806 Map of Red River
Area Sells Online for $34,720' (by Ken Hall in News-Antique.com).
The highlight of a two-week online auction held by Old World Auctions, now based in
Sedona, Arizona, was a rare map of the Red River region of Louisiana, by Nicholas King. The
rest of the piece is about the history of the firm and forthcoming lots. [Via The Map the Universe weblog].

Exhibition of maps of Bulgaria opens

December 18. <
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=74246 > 'Bulgaria's History Shown in European Maps
Exhibition' (in the Sofia Weekly). 'The "Europe for Bulgaria
in Dr. Simeon Simov's collection" exhibition gives information on what Bulgaria looked like
from ancient times until modernity'. Inspired by Bulgaria's EU accession, and opened by the
Prime Minister in the Central Military Club in Sofia on 18 December, it features maps collected
by Dr Simov over 40 years. [See also: December 19 <
http://standartnews.com/en/article.php?d=2006-12-19&article=2450 > 'Intelligence Officers
Bring Unique Maps to Bulgaria' (in Standart News), apparently giving a closing date of 14 January 2007.]

Harvard University announces a map donation

December 14 [updated December 20]. <
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2006/12.14/07-maps.html > 'Ukrainian map collection
arrives at Harvard' (by Jennifer Tomase in the Harvard University Gazette).
The announcement is made about the donation of the map collection, built up by the late
Bohdan Krawciw (1904-1975), 'a Ukrainian-born poet, journalist, literary critic, translator,
and nationalist', to Harvard Map Collection in 2005. Its coverage is of central and Eastern
Europe, with a focus on the Urkaine, and it includes the 1660 atlas by Guillaume Le Vasseur de
Beauplan. [See the earlier news story from Harvard College Library, 7 December, with three
illustrations, noting that an exhibition is planned for 2007: <
http://hcl.harvard.edu/news/2006/ukrainian_maps.html >; and 'Ukraine Maps Arrive at Harvard:
Valuable map collection documents historical and critical trends' by Firth M. McEachern in the
Harvard Crimson on 19 December: < http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=516525 >.
This refers to 'the collection of almost 900 maps thought to be worth hundreds of thousands of
dollars'. Nor was this the first donation: in 1978, the Krawciw family 'bequeathed 12,000 maps
to Harvard'.]

The Ratzer map of New York city up for auction

December 4. < http://www.nysun.com/article/44510 > 'A Walker in the City,
18th-Century Style' (by Kate Taylor in the New York Sun).
Background comment on the example of the Bernard Ratzer map of New York city (1767) being auctioned by
Christie's on 5 December.

Dallas's founding cartographic document in need of repair

November 30. < http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/113006dntexdallasmap.3138608.html
> 'State charts course for restoration of rare maps. Replica of 1844 Dallas plat among sale
items to fund efforts' (by Christy Hoppe in the Dallas Morning News).
About a printed pamphlet and map (10.3 x 16.9 inches) produced by Charles Fenton Mercer
in 1844, described as 'the first known record of the settlement and the name "Dallas" appearing
on a map.' It is considered the best example of the three known to survive. The General Land
Office will add it to reproductions of hundreds of historical maps, issued to fund its Adopt-a-Map
programme. The article is accompanied by a fuzzy image.

The earliest jigsaw puzzles?

November 27. < http://www.gnn.gov.uk/content/detail.asp?ReleaseID=245678&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromSearch=True >
'Last chance to save cabinet containing maps
used to teach George III's children' (posted on the Government News Network).
A temporary export bar until 26 January 2007 (with possible extension until 26
April) has been placed on a cabinet containing dissected maps used as teaching aids for King
George III's children. The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art and Objects of
Cultural Interest is seeking offers to purchase for £120,000 (excluding VAT). 'Jill Shefrin's
book Such Constant Affectionate Care: Lady Charlotte Finch - Royal Governess & the Children
of George III offers evidence that the cabinet contains the earliest surviving jigsaw
puzzles.' [See the full text for further details. For the outcome, see entry for 12 March 2007.]

'Exploring the Southland' exhibition opens in Hobart

November 24. <
http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,20810964-3462,00.html > 'Maps chart age of
discovery' (by Tim Martain in the [Hobart] Mercury). 'A
collection of 40 maps showing the growth of Australia's charted coastline is being exhibited at
the Carnegie Gallery in Hobart ... The exhibit, Exploring the Southland, features maps from the
collection of Dr Bernard Lamprell, who settled in Tasmania in 1967.' The exhibition closes on 6
January 2007.

A new book from the University of Chicago Press

November 22 (date noted). The Press
announces a new title [see here for the contents]: <
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo3750681.html > Cartographies
of Travel and Navigation. Based on a previous series of Kenneth
Nebenzahl, Jr., Lectures in the History of Cartography, this features contributions by five scholars,
including the editor James R. Akerman. [Via The
Map Room weblog].

Connecticut library receives bequest of a rare wall-map

November 20 (date seen).
Information from the website of the Map
and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) MAGIC, part of the
University of Connecticut Libraries, in Storrs, received an example of Clark and Tackabury's
'Topographic Map of the State of Connecticut' (1859), as a gift from Mrs. Diana Levy, in honour
of her husband, Colonel Levy. It measures 6 feet by 4, and is known from just three other
examples. You can view it via the Earth Resource Mapping plugin.

Brown University producing an online map catalogue

November 18. < http://www.boston.com/news/local/rhode_island/articles/2006/11/18/brown_university_cataloguing_its_repository_of_rare_maps/
> 'Brown University cataloguing its repository of rare maps' (by Eric Tucker in the
Boston Globe). About two maps from a 'collection of more than
1,000 rare maps that librarians are in the process of cataloging online ... many dating back
100 years or more ... So far, 98 percent of the maps have been catalogued online in the Brown
system, called Josiah, as well as on WorldCAT, a worldwide database where libraries can upload
their collections. The university plans to digitize the maps so that Internet users can view
them online ... A reception is planned this spring to celebrate the collection, which will be
available for viewing inside the library, though the maps are not available to be checked out.'

Maps from David Rumsey's collection now on Google Earth

November 13 [updated 15 November]. 'Old world meets new on Google Earth'. There has been
massive publicity for the addition of sixteen maps from the Rumsey Collection on Google Earth.
Note from Philip Hoehn: 'To view the maps, download the latest version of Google Earth (PC and Mac versions), then go
to Layers/Featured Content/Rumsey Historical Maps. To enable transparency of the historic map
layers, click on the Rumsey Historical Maps folder when viewing a map and a slider bar will
appear that will adjust transparency for comparison of old and new maps images. Additional
maps will be added in the coming months'. See also Frank Taylor's
Google Earth Blog for further technical notes.

Major exhibition about London maps opens at the British Library next week

November 12 [updated 25 & 30 November]. <
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/11/12/svmaps12.xml&menuId= 5226
&sSheet=/arts/2006/11/12/ixsevenmain.html > 'A city spread before us. Poverty, the docks and
bombing targets' (an unsigned article in the [London] Telegraph).
A preview (focussing on the East End of London) of the British Library's forthcoming
free exhibition, 'London: A Life in Maps', due to open on 24 November 2006 and to run until 4
March 2007. 'Three quarters of the exhibits have never been seen in public'. The article's
final page lists 13 'notable exhibits'. 40 of the 190 exhibits are featured in an Online
Gallery . [See a note by Peter Barber on The Map Room blog, 17 November, and a discursive commentary, <
http://www.newstatesman.com/200611200032 > 'City of illusions', by Peter Ackroyd in the New Statesman
, '20 November' (but posted 17 November). Podcasts are promised, there is a link to videos, and the
exhibit has its own < http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/londoninmaps/ > Blog].

Ann Arbor exhibit of maps from Shakespeare's time

October 25. <
http://www.mlive.com/features/aanews/index.ssf?/base/features-1/1161787280290590.xml&coll=2
> 'Step into Will's world via maps. Shakespearean Age cartography on display' (by Marianne
Rzepka in the Ann Arbor News). A note on the exhibition,
'Shakespeare's World in Maps', at the University of Michigan's Clements Library. Opened on
October 2nd, this runs until December 22.

University of Wisconsin-Madison to put early books and maps online

October 12
(posted October 21). 'UW-Madison
joins massive Google Book project'. A Press Release from the
university describes how access will be provided to 'hundreds of thousands of public and
historical books and documents' from the collections of the university and the Wisconsin
Historical Society. All selected material will be out of copyright. It will include 'high use
collections, such as...maps'.

A new book about the mapmaker Moses Greenleaf - talk by the author 23 October

October 16. <
http://www.bangornews.com/news/t/lifestyle.aspx?articleid=141831&zoneid=14 > '‘Daughter-out’ lists track of women
ancestors' (by Roxanne Moore Saucier in the Bangor Daily News). Walter Macdougall,
professor emeritus at the University of Maine, has issued Settling the Maine Wilderness: Moses Greenleaf, His Maps and
His Household of Faith, 1777-1834 (Portland, Maine: University of Southern Maine and the Osher Map Library). The blurb
notes that 'Macdougall’s book is a recognition of Moses Greenleaf’s great achievements in mapping the Maine wilderness at
the very outset of its statehood in 1820'. 'Macdougall will talk about the book at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 23, at the Bangor
Public Library'. [See also October 23 < http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/lifestyle.aspx?articleid=142118&zoneid=14 >
'Maps of Maine displayed in biography of Moses Greenleaf' (by Ardeana Hamlin in the Bangor Daily News)]

Further on the claims that the 1673 Marquette map is a hoax

October 16. 'The Jacques
Marquette Autograph Map Hoax' A message to the MapHist
list from Carl J. Weber draws attention to a range of articles on his website and to the response to his revisionism. See
Archive entry under 11 June 2006.

Further dismantling of the Menzies 'thesis'

October 15. '1421exposed.com - New
material including exposé of "The Island of 7 Cities"'. Six articles
have been added to the 1421exposed.com
site, by historians of cartography and others. See earlier under 26 & 24 April 2006. [Via
MapHist ].

New price record for an atlas

October 11. 'First Printed Atlas Breaks A Record' (from Map the Universe). The 1477 Bologna edition of Ptolemy's
Geographia, the first printed atlas, fetched £2.1 million ($3.9 million) at the second part of
the Wardington sale at Sotheby's on 10 October 2006. This is a new price record for an atlas.
It was bought by Bernard Shapero on behalf of an unnamed client.

First printed atlas for sale next week

October 7. <
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1816886.ece > 'Atlas favoured by
Columbus goes on sale for £1 million' (by Cahal Milmo in the [London] Independent). Coverage of the sale, at Sotheby's in London next week (10 October
2006), of the second part of the atlas collection created by Lord Wardington has focussed on
his coloured copy of the first printed atlas, the 1477 Bologna edition of Ptolemy's Geographia.
Only one other privately-owned copy is known. The map illustrated and discussed is that of the
British Isles, presumably reflecting the Sotheby's press release.

Nolli plan of Rome on display in Atlanta

October 6. <
http://www.artdaily.com/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=17664 > 'Discovering Rome:
Maps and Monuments' (in the Art Daily). 'The Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory
University [Atlanta] presents the exhibit 'Discovering Rome: Maps and Monuments of the Eternal
City' ... At the center of the exhibition will be Giambattista Nolli’s Great Map of 1748, a
landmark in the history of topography, enabling viewers to explore the city as a whole and to
understand how the individual monuments fit within their urban context.' The exhibition opened
on 23 September 2006 and runs to 14 January 2007.

Exhibition about the Dutch discovery of western Australia

October 4. < http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=77&ContentID=8694
> 'Explorers map it out' (by John Duffy in the West Australian, WA News).
An interview with Professor Ted Snell, Dean of Art, about the exhibition
'Western Edge', mainly concerned with the Dutch discovery of Australia's west coast, opening at
the John Curtin Gallery, Curtin University
of Technology, Perth on 6 October and running to 8 December 2006. 'The earliest map on
display in the exhibition was printed in 1515, based on a chart believed to have been drawn in
1483 and based on a record from 1459 ... The exhibition contains about 70 pieces, including
maps, books and journals. The rare and original documents were drawn from the extensive private
collections of WA businessmen Jock Clough and Kerry Stokes.'

Large map of the Comstock Lode donated

October 1. <
http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=60652&issue=10012006 >
'Corporate Philanthropy - Kinross donates map of Comstock Lode' (in the Canadian Mining
Journal). A 1900 manuscript map of the Comstock Lode has been
donated by Kinross Gold USA to the W.M. Keck Earth Science and Mineral Engineering Museum at
the < http://www.mines.unr.edu/mackay/ > Mackay School of Earth Sciences
Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. 'The map is 5-ft tall and 12-ft long (1.5 x
3.6 metres). It features all claims and mines from Gold Hill to northern Virginia City and
cross sections of the Belcher, Yellow Jacket, Hale and Norcross and the C. & C. Mines. It is
displayed at the top of the Mackay building's main staircase on the second floor.'

A new, scholarly edition of Ptolemy's 'Geographia'

September 30. < http://www.nzz.ch/2006/09/30/eng/article7115877.html >
'Researchers cast new light on old map' (by Julia Slater in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung).
Announcing (with few relevant details) a new edition of Ptolemy's
'Geographia', produced by an international team of researchers led by Alfred Stückelberger and
Gerd Grasshoff, professors at the University of Berne. It is based on the exemplar in the Topkapi
Museum, Istanbul, described as 'possibly the oldest existing copy'. 'Using this manuscript and
other copies from the Vatican, Venice, Florence and Paris they have produced the first complete
modern edition of the Greek original, and the first full German translation ... The researchers
even managed to correct some of the mistakes in the old versions. Not surprisingly, numerous
errors had crept in over the centuries.' For further details about the project and the new
publication see the Ptolemaios-Forschungsstelle
site, and also the note on the Web Projects page of Map History. A
message to the MapHist list from Markus
Oehrli, 4 October, explained how the 1000 corrected coordinates were achieved.

South Carolina to put 18th century property maps online

September 18. < http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/15545513.htm > 'Tour
the past from your computer. S.C. Department of Archives and History puts documents online'
(by Joey Holleman in The State (South Carolina). 'The next big
project at < http://www.state.sc.us/scdah/ > Archives and History is
putting online 24,000 property maps from 1731-1775' [no details given].

Talk and exhibition about the early name for Siam

September 6. <
http://nationmultimedia.com/2006/09/06/headlines/headlines_30012911.php > 'Scierno: the Land
of Smiles.A tattered map found in an obscure monastery has added more intrigue to the western
world's discovery of ancient Siam' (by Subhatra Bhumiprabhas in the Nation (Thailand)).
The mid-15th century Fra Mauro map (not usually described as
'tattered') provided the collector Thavatchai Tangsirivanich with evidence that the early name
for Siam (and apparently its capital) was Scierno [though the article points out that a
variant of this was already in Hobson-Jobson's dictionary]. 'Thavatchai Tangsirivanich
will reveal his journey to discover "Scierno" at the launch of "Ayutthaya in European Maps"
hosted by The Association of Thai Archives and the National Archives, on Monday [presumably 11
September] at the National Archives' main auditorium. An exhibition entitled "Decoding The Fra
Mauro Map" will be displayed.' See also a later, illustrated piece (25 September 2006) by Chris
Baker, with the sub-title, 'Meticulous research by an amateur map collector is encouraging
historians to peer backwards in time in the hope of adding detail and colour to the scanty
image we have of the ancient capital of Ayutthaya', in the <
http://www.bangkokpost.com/Outlook/25Sep2006_out01.php > Bangkok Post.

Google, Wikipedia - and Battista Agnese

August 31. <
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,1861112,00.html > 'Top of the heap:
analysis of online search habits reveals that the first result - often a Wikipedia page - is by
far the most popular. But, asks Charles Arthur, does that mean it's the right answer?' (in the
London Guardian). In the context of an analysis of how people
search (e.g. 42% click on Google's first result and 90% select from the first group of ten) the
article examines the dominant role of Wikipedia, the free, user-compiled, encyclopedia. It
reports the findings of Patrick Ross, of the Center for the Study of Digital Property, whose
interest in early maps led him to check the entries for Vinland and Battista Agnese. [Part of
the text also available via MapHist].

Delhi Archives to digitise their collections, including maps

August 29. < http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=199003
> 'Delhi’s history gets modern touch, goes digital' (by Pratul Sharma in the Express
India / Delhi Newsline). The Delhi Archives department is about
to issue a tender for a four-year digitisation project, covering records, maps, photographs and
portraits, dating back to 1785. It is claimed that this will be the first such project in India.

Scanned Irish maps a treasure trove for genealogists

August 29 & 30. <
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/08/29/online_map_archive_an_irish_genealogists
_pot_of_gold/ > 'Online map archive: an Irish genealogist's pot of gold' (by Raja Mishra
in the Boston Globe). The Irish Government appropriately
chose Boston, "the capital of Irish America", to launch this "treasure trove" for Irish
genealogists. 'For 5 euros a day, roughly $6.40, computer users can access visual images of
more than 30,000 maps of Irish localities dating back to 1824 ... [with] rich details about
19th century life in Irish neighborhoods: individual plots of land, cemeteries, schools,
hospitals, businesses, factories, wells - even trees and bushes are mapped out. "These maps
represent the world's first large-scale [historical] mapping of an entire country," said
Malachy McVeigh, senior operations manager at Ireland's Ordnance Survey Ireland...The survey
team painstakingly scanned the maps, most of them in storage at Trinity College, the National
Library of Ireland, and the Royal Irish Academy, all in Dublin. The maps span two eras, from
1824 to 1847 [i.e. 1829-42, at 1:10,650], and from 1888 to 1913 [at 1:2,500].' [Text also
available via the lismaps Archive for August 2006 [see messages from Francis Herbert with 'Irish' in the
title, which also provides the site's < http://www.irishhistoricmaps.ie/historic/ > address!].

A new blog for Islamic cartography

August 23 [posted 28th].
Written by Tarek Kahlaoui, a PhD student at the University of Pennsylvania, Department of History of Art,
Islamic Cartography is an 'outlet
for my dissertation, in the writing process, titled: "The depiction of the Mediterranean in late Islamic
cartography: from the 13th to the 16th century"'. That modest statement disguises the significance of the
first major post: Islamic Cartography: A Bibliography of modern literature [covering so far the
letter 'A'] . The next post offered Links to Photos of Islamic Cartography. A blog to watch. [Via The Map Room weblog].

Marie Tharp dies

August 23. < http://www.earth.columbia.edu/news/2006/story08-24-06.php >
'Marie Tharp, Pioneering Mapmaker of the Ocean Floor, Dies' (Earth Institute News, Columbia
University). 'Marie Tharp, a pathbreaking oceanographic cartographer
at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, co-creator of the first global map of the ocean floor
and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge died
Wednesday August 23 in Nyack Hospital. She was 86'. Her first map of the North Atlantic (with
Bruce Heezen) dates from 1959. [Via Lismaps]. And: < http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-tharp4sep04,1,2811531.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
> 'Marie Tharp, 86; Pioneering Maps Altered Views on Seafloor Geology' (by Valerie J. Nelson in the Los Angeles Times, 4 September 2006).
See also 'Mountains under the sea: Marie Tharp's maps of the ocean floor shed light on the
theory of continental drift' (David M. Lawrence - Mercator's World 4:6, 1999)

Buffalo exhibit for the Dalai Lama's visit will include maps

August 22. <
http://www.buffalo.edu/news/fast-execute.cgi/article-page.html?article=81340009 >
'Libraries' Exhibits to Coincide with Dalai Lama Visit'. During
September there will be an exhibition at the University at Buffalo, State University of New
York, Special Collections Research Room, 420 Capen Hall, North Campus. 'Discovering Tibet: The
Development of Western Notions of Central Asia and Tibet' will feature maps loaned by Richard
V. and Susan B. Lee. These will range 'from a 16th-century woodblock map of Asia, the first of
the continent, to 17th-century Dutch maps showing roads used for the north-south Silk Road
commerce, to 19th-century maps of increasing detail as travelers explored the region'.

Spanish scientists use early maps to test a damage-free sampling method

August 21.
< http://www.azom.com/details.asp?newsID=6404 > 'Researchers Devise Technique to Preserve
Ancient Manuscripts' (Azom.com - the A-Z of Materials). A team of
scientists from the Department of Painting at the University of Granada, led by
professor Teresa Espejo, has 'designed a vanguard analytical method based on two techniques:
high-resolution liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis'. Dr José Luis Vílchez
explained that they have replaced "the sample taking system based on the scalpel by another
which does not damage the preservation of the document and consists of using microbrushes with
the appropriate solvents"'. The method was tested on Arab manuscripts and on 16th-19th century
maps from the Royal Chancellery of Granada, which had been used as legal evidence.

1697 Dutch charts of Australia 'discovered' - 20 years after being published!

August 21. < http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/great-southern-find-maps-are-dutch-originals/2006/08/20/1156012415015.html
> 'Great southern find: maps are Dutch originals'
(by Steve Meacham in the Sydney Morning Herald). "They
languished unrecognised in the vaults of the National Library of Australia for almost a
century. Now two hand-drawn charts have been identified as 17th-century originals - and are
possibly the oldest manuscript maps of any part of Australia to be held in Australian hands.
The charts - both named "The South Land explored by Willem de Vlamingh in January and February
1697" - were finally uncovered by Martin Woods, the museum's map curator...The charts were
among 1200 maps donated to the library in 1911 by Edward Augustus Petherick, an avid
collector". EXCEPT, as the piece explains: "they were thought to be printed copies until 1981,
when they were identified as hand-drawn originals by a visiting Dutch expert, Gunter Schilder,
who was writing a history of the Vlamingh voyage". See Günter Schilder, Voyage to the Great
South Land. Willem de Vlamingh 1696-1697 (Sydney: Royal Australian Historical Society, 1985).
[Via The Map the Universe weblog].

New interactive US site links maps and street data

August 18. <
http://rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/15648/1/1/ > 'Historic Map Works’ New Site
Offers Collection of 19th & Early 20th Century City and Town Maps' (by Beth Bresnahan, RIS
Media). Historic Map Works, based in Maine, specialise in what they
call Residential Genealogy. The new website offers map images enlargeable to high resolution, with the option
to buy an online version. So far the coverage is of New York City and Portland, Maine, and the
eight states between Maryland and Maine. The aim is to include 650 atlases, 35,000 maps, and
300 directories (all the property of the founder, Charles Carpenter). This will offer a
searchable collection of '19th and early 20th century American city, town and county maps,
linked to volumes of information about who lived where when'. 'The map collection is linked
with modern mapping technology that references existing street names and numbers. By simply
typing in an address, users can follow the progression of buildings and neighborhoods through
time - in some cases up to 250 years.' [See a later piece, 5 November 2006, <
http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=165711&format=&page=1 >
'Mapping out business: Maine co. is like MapQuest on a time machine', by Jay Fitzgerald in the
'Boston Herald'].

East West Cartographic acquires large geological map collection

August <
http://www.cartographic.com/geological_collection/ > 'Special Geological Collection Acquired
From Telberg Geological Map Service'. 'East View Cartographic (EVC)
has made an exciting acquisition of geological maps and atlases with a truly global scope. This
collection, purchased from the Telberg Geological Map Service, contains thousands of unique
items from regions such as China, Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The Telberg
family built this collection by establishing supply relationships with virtually every
geological mapping authority in the world.' The maps evidently date from the past few decades,
with Chinese maps post-Cultural Revolution, but also African material from the colonial period.

Scans of rare maps to establish proof of ownership

August 17. <
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ctyalemaps0817.artaug17,0,5975490.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
> 'Gift To Help Yale Preserve Its Maps' (by Kim Martineau in the Hartford Courant ).
More about William Reese and the Yale donation (see the story
below). The money will be partly used to 'create a full electronic catalog of the collection,
with digitized versions of many of the most valuable maps. The collection holds about 15,000
maps printed before 1850, showing early images of New England, America and North America. By
scanning its rarest maps, Yale will have an electronic record of each map, with its unique
stains, coloring and creases. If a map is stolen and turns up on the market, Yale then has a
picture to compare it to and prove ownership. Digitizing the rarest maps will cut down on the
number of people handling the maps while also allowing more people to study them - from a
computer.' [The full text also available via ExLibris].

$200,000 for Yale's Sterling Memorial Library

August 16. 'Yale University Library receives a gift for the Map Collection' [via
MapHist - see also missing signature
]. 'William Reese, President of William Reese Company, a firm
dealing in rare books and manuscripts in New Haven, has donated $100,000 to the Yale University
Library to support the future of the Map Collection in Sterling Memorial Library..."Over the
past year, in the wake of the apprehension of a thief who has now pled guilty to stealing maps
both from the Beinecke Library and the Map Collection, I have worked with the Library to
inventory the collections and to advise on the many issues which have arisen in the wake of
those thefts. While we have come to realize that the Map Collection is facing many challenges,
I am convinced that, with sufficient nourishment, the remarkable collections and dedicated core
of staff can blossom into a vital research center of the first rank."' University Librarian,
Alice Prochaska, stated that she will match his gift 'with funds reallocated from the Library's
own budget. With Mr. Reese's advice and support, the Library will now begin to raise
additional significant funding. We will be seeking to endow the position of Map Curator, to
support the creation of a full electronic catalog with digitized versions of the holdings of
this great collection, and to support and extend the high-powered consultative service in
Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) that the staff provide'.

More on the LAC catalogue problems (see previous entry)

August 3. <
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060803.ARCHIVES03/TPStory/?query=ross
> 'All Over the Map. A catalogue in distress: Library and Archives Canada admits it needs help' (by
Val Ross in the Toronto Globe and Mail). 'If anything shows
how Library and Archives Canada needs to upgrade its cataloguing systems, it could be the fact
that staff realized that they had not one but two originals of a valuable 16th-century map only
when they read about it on July 27 in The Globe and Mail..."The Forlani in the national
archives was a map that was well known," says Conrad Heidenreich, York University professor
emeritus of historical geography. "My sense is that at Library and Archives Canada, there's no
corporate memory"..."I had no trouble in the old days working with the archives, because if I
had a problem, I could ask Ed [retired maps curator Ed Dahl]," Heidenreich says. "The new
people there are technicians. They're less well informed."...Researchers might assume that
because Library and Archives Canada is now together as an institution, they should search by
clicking on "National Library collection" in the AMICUS database. Nothing explains that they
must click instead on the entire AMICUS database, which then trolls library holdings across the
country before it coughs up what's at the former National Archives.'

Perhaps map curators do still have their value

July 27. <
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060727.wxarchives27/EmailBNStory/Entertainment/home
> 'Got to have it! ... Oops, already do. Library and Archives Canada came
embarrassingly close to buying a valuable historic map they already had in their collection.
Shouldn't the information collectors get their information straight?' (by Val Ross in the
Toronto Globe and Mail). In May, LAC's cartography section
publicly expressed interest in acquiring an example of the printed Forlani world map of 1562,
one of the first to name 'Canada'. It was coming up for auction in Paris, and expected to make
around $200,000. LAC sought private sponsorship for the purchase, pulling out shortly before
the sale when it was realized they already had the 1560 state of the map. "The really
embarrassing thing is some staff seemed unaware that the archives also already owned the 1562
version, the very one that was going up for auction. In fact, this 1562 Forlani was acquired by
the archives in 1981, and exhibited as one of the nation's gems the very next year. It is also
described in a catalogue, Treasures of the National Map Collection. And both Forlani maps are
in LAC's current web catalogue -- but the LAC's confusing cataloguing system is part of the
problem." Terry Cook, a retired senior manager at the archives, explained that "part of LAC's problems are that it has shifted cultures, from one
based on specialized curators who knew their collections in depth, to a more open, democratized
strategy. 'The new approach is to put more information on the Web, and to appeal to a vaster
audience so ordinary people can research genealogy or aboriginal rights'." See an earlier posting about this map and the LAC to MapHist
on 21 May 2006].

Celestial images at Penn State

July 18. <
http://www.psu.edu/dept/palmermuseum/exhibitions.html > 'Celestial Images: Antiquarian
Astronomical Charts and Maps from the Mendillo Collection'. The
exhibition at the Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University runs until 17 September 2006. See
also < http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/07/07-13-06tdc/07-13-06darts-07.asp >
"'Old maps' chart new exhibit" (by Travis Larchuk in the Digital Collegian)

More on the Boston Public Library's 'Journeys of the Imagination' exhibition

July 5. <
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2006/07/05/watching_the_world_take_shape/ >
'Watching the world take shape' (by Greg Cook in the Boston Globe).
A run-down of some of the items in 'Journeys of the Imagination', an exhibition from
the Cartographic Collections of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public
Library, which continues until August 18. [See under 2 April 2006 for an earlier entry.]

The 1637 map of Diss, Norfolk saved by its residents

July 4. <
http://new.edp24.co.uk/content/news/story.aspx?brand=EDPOnline&category=News&tBrand= edponline
&tCategory=news&itemid=NOED04%20Jul%202006%2017%3A29%3A03%3A687 > 'Townsfolk help buy
historic map' (by Celia Wigg on the EDP24 site). Norfolk Record
Office succeeded in acquiring the map by William Tampon (1637) - 'almost as big as a double
bed' - for over £10,000, after townsfolk raised a four-figure sum. It will eventually be put on
public display. [See original entry for 20 March 2006].

What is involved in putting on a Lewis and Clark exhibition

July 2. < http://washingtontimes.com/familytimes/20060701-102650-9416r.htm
> 'Discovering Lewis and Clark' (by Karen Goldberg Goff in the Washington Times). About the seven years that the staff at the Missouri Historical Society
spent putting together 'Lewis & Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition', running at
National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, from May to September 11. "Most
captivating are the maps. It is interesting to see how far off some of Jefferson's expectations
about the West were. It is even more interesting to see how Clark's maps changed as the
expedition continued. One display explains how American Indians made maps based on what the
people did with the land, not the land itself. Clark, who collected about 100 American Indian
maps, then drew his own based partly on that research and partly on his own observation. These
maps are on the walls of the museum as well as in several books and interactive displays."

Zebulon Pike's maps to be displayed in Colorado Springs

July 2. <
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1318913&secid=1 > 'Pike’s papers get mountain of
security' (by Ed Sealover in the [Colorado Springs] Gazette ).
Discussing the high security surrounding the return from the National Archives of Zebulon Pike
documents including maps, for a bicentenary exhibition at the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum.
This opens 'on or around July 14' [such is the level of security] for five weeks.

Maps of Dover, New Hampshire on display

June 30. <
http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/dover/06302006/library/109210.htm > 'Restored historic
maps are on display' (by Cathy Beaudoin in the Dover Community News).
Four rolled-up maps of Dover and Strafford County (1831-70), the earliest being a manuscript wall-map of the Cocheco cotton mill, have been restored and will be on display from 7 July to
the end of August at the library in Dover, New Hampshire.

'The Stories Behind Canada's Maps'

June 21. Terra Nostra: The Stories Behind Canada's
Maps, 1550-1950, a New Library and Archives Canada Publication (a press release from CCN
Matthews).
"Co-published by les Éditions du Septentrion and Library and Archives Canada, this
book is the first history of Canadian cartography to come out in the last 30 years. Researched
and written by Senior Archivist Jeffrey S. Murray, Terra Nostra draws on the world's largest
and most important collection of early maps relating to Canada-the cartographic holdings of
Library and Archives Canada". ISBN: 0-660-19496-1 (English), 0-660-97054-6 (French).

Dating maps from the wear of the block or plate

June 20 [expanded June 21, and later]. <
http://www.science.psu.edu/news-and-events/2006-news/Hedges6-2006.htm > 'New method
for dating art prints and early books borrows know-how from genetic science'.
'The discovery that the wood blocks and metal plates used for printmaking deteriorate at a clock-
like rate means that we can now use the prints as a "print clock" for determining the date a work was
printed'. This claim comes from Blair Hedges, professor of biology at Penn State in a paper due to be
published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences. The
illustrated summary features the woodcut map of Jamaica from Bordone's Isolario (1528). Although
not specifically concerned with maps, Hedges (a collector of < http://evo.bio.psu.edu/caribmap/
> Caribbean maps) also used the works of Porcacchi and Magini for his copperplate
examples. Significantly, 'Hedges' analyses also show that changes in print quality were caused by aging of
the wood and copper alone, not by the wear and tear of the printing process itself or the number of times
an impression was made with a particular block or plate'. See also a press release from EurekAlert, and a
short summary by Tracy Staedter (21 June) in the Scientific American.com <
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=0001D8A6-9665-1498-927983414B7F4945 >. Greg
Miller's < http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/621/4 > 'A New Hook for Dating
Books' (21 June) in Science Magazine provides more information, including FAQs, a link to the
full 19-page, pdf < http://evo.bio.psu.edu/hedgeslab/Publications/PDF-files/176.pdf >
article, and further links, e.g.: < http://evo.bio.psu.edu/printclock/ >. More about Hedges's method and Molecular clock
basics. See also this
and other postings on ExLibris in July 2006; and < http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/15107277.htm
> 'A biologist turns a page. A Penn State professor, stepping out of the lab, has developed a method to
date old prints and books. Some scholars challenge it', by Tom Avril in the Philadelphia Enquirer (24
July).

More on the Newberry purchase from the History Museum

June 19. <
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0606190128jun19,1,2389138.story?coll=chi-
newslocalchicago-hed > 'Library finds a treasure in maps. Newberry gets a deal when it
acquires hundreds of items from city museum' (by William Mullen in the Chicago Tribune).
More information on the special sale to the Newberry Library of
material from the Chicago History Museum, with Robert Karrow discussing some of the acquired
maps and Sam Plourd, the museum's director of collections, giving details of the disposals.
[For an earlier account see under 31 May 2006]. [A further update note, 31 October 2006: to see
the maps in question go to the Newberry Library Cartographic Catalog, select 'Search' and, under 'Search for the
phrase', enter: Purchased from the Chicago Historical Society, 2005].

Exhibit in Portland, Oregon

June 16. 'Treasures of the John Wilson Special
Collections'. Running from 24 June to 20 August 2006, the exhibit in
the Multnomah County Library, Portland, Oregon, includes "Atlas Major (1662), by Joan
Blaeu...the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)...important early maps and documents of Oregon". See the announcement on ExLibris - though you may have to re-format the text elsewhere in order to read it. The shorter
version on the Library's site omits mention of the map items.

Is the 1673 Marquette map a Jesuit fake?

June 11. <
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/061106/REG_BA246ESI.062.shtml > 'History professor says
Marquette map a fraud. Believes sketch couldn't have been made before 1813' (by Michael
Smothers in the Peoria Journal Star). Carl Weber, professor of
history and the humanities at DeVry Institute in Chicago, claims that the hand-drawn Marquette
map of 1673, which accurately details the Illinois' curving course, is "a historical fraud".
His findings, announced at the Newberry Library last September, are based on the fact that the
map contains information about the Illinois that didn't appear on other early
exploration maps until decades later. "The likelihood of Marquette going up the (Illinois)
river with Joliet is very slim." He believes that the map "supposedly discovered in 1844 among
documents stored and virtually forgotten in a Jesuit mission in Canada - was created and forged
with Marquette's signature by the Jesuit Order to strengthen its political position in France
and The Vatican."

Has 'Fort Crevecoeur', Illinois been wrongly located?

June 11. < http://www.pjstar.com/stories/061106/REG_BA1PSC9A.062.shtml > 'The Fischer Theory' (in the Peoria Journal Star).
A second revisionist piece in the same issue, this time relaying the theories of amateur historians Marty and Bruce Fischer of Macomb. They claim that 'Fort Crevecoeur', where the La Salle and Tonti expedition of 1680 was aborted, was actually at Beardstown and not Peoria. Their evidence, partly based on 'two dozen maps of the early French era', will 'force historians to rewrite the history of the first European settlements in Illinois.' See also 'Historians stake claim in Beardstown' by Michael Smothers in the State Journal Register, 19 June 2006, including criticism of the theory < http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/88877.asp >

Death of Cor Koeman

June 10. 'Prof. Dr. Ir. Cor Koeman died a few days ago'
[message to the MapHist list].
Born in 1918, Cor Koeman is best known for the monumental Atlantes Neerlandici but his contributions to the history of (particularly) Dutch mapmaking were wide-ranging and significant. No doubt obituaries and bibliographies will appear in the leading map journals, as a tribute to one of the leading figures in the history of cartography.

[away from the Internet 10-19 June - leading to delayed postings for that period]

The National Library of New Zealand puts maps online

June 6. <
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0606/S00052.htm > 'Historical Turnbull Maps Now Online' (press release via Scoop Independent
News). "The Alexander Turnbull Library has linked some 240 images of historical New Zealand maps from
its collections to the National Library Catalogue". They are low
resolution but the library is 'working towards' providing high resolution online, although those can be purchased. The Turnbull
should be encouraged to do that; anything less is of marginal use. See the press release for the complicated access instructions.
There are also 64 map images on their Timeframes page.

Exhibition in Rome showing how Italy was perceived and reproduced from the
16th century onwards

June 1. <
http://www.agi.it/english/news.pl?doc=200606011355-1085-RT1-CRO-0-NF11&page=0&id=agionline-
eng.oggitalia > 'Exhibition 'Italy: Landscape and Territory' at Vittoriano' (in AGI
Online). The exhibition running from 2 June to 20 September 2006
at the Vittoriano monument in Rome, includes 'several maps of cities and military routes as
well as geological maps presenting the physical composition of our country's soil. In
particular, the Environmental protection agency has lent to the exhibition, the 18th century
'first geological map of Italy including earthquakes", of which only another copy exists and is
at the British Museum in London.'

Chicago - maps move across town

May 31. <
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-31-2006/0004371287&EDATE= > 'Rare
European and American Maps Join Newberry Library's Collection of Cartographic Treasures' (from PRNewswire
). The Chicago History Museum, having decided to dispose of 1000 maps, allowed
the Newberry Library to make a private offer. Nearly 400 maps were selected, including 'two very sought-after
maps of Texas, including a large and very uncommon 1857 edition of DeCordova's map, and six manuscript maps,
among them a map of Newfoundland from about 1675 and another of the <
http://www.newberry.org/collections/NewAcq2005.html > Ohio Valley from the 1790s' [whose thumbnail is on a
page with other recent map acquisitions]. [For a later piece see under 19 June 2006].

Wes Brown honoured for services to Denver Public Library

May 27. <
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/spotlight_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23962_4730773,00.html
> 'Library's friends help keep book on democracy open' (by Tom Noel in the
Rocky Mountain News). About Wes Brown, a well-known figure in the
world of early maps, who is being honoured on 14 June with a reception at the Central Denver
Public Library. He has been named as the 2006 Eleanor Gehres Award Winner for outstanding
volunteer service to the Denver Public Library. He has given many maps to the library, which
now claims to be the best in the West. As often happens with map fanatics, his wife has had to ban maps from the living room.

The Library of Congress puts up a website for its Los Angeles exhibit

May 11.
<
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-wk-gallery11may11,0,4730238.story?coll=la-headlines-
politics > 'Finding it on a map. "Los Angeles Mapped" reveals the city through changing
times and political and artistic views' (by Brenda Rees in the Los Angeles Times).
'"Los Angeles Mapped," a new exhibition at the Ira Gershwin Gallery on
the second floor of the Walt Disney Concert Hall, features about two dozen maps from 1639 to
1991 (and a video loop of Google Earth in action) that serve as historical timelines and
storybooks'. The exhibit, which had opened on 28 January, runs through January 2007. The
curator, Sam Brylawski, describes some of the exhibits. What is not made clear is that the
material comes from the Library of Congress. The accompanying online version, with high resolution images
of the 23 items, was mounted in late April.

A map used by Churchill in 1940 to help prepare for an invasion by Hitler?

May
7. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4982116.stm > 'Map may reveal Churchill
secrets. Mystery surrounds a map which experts believe may provide new information about plans
to defend England from invasion in World War II' (BBC News).
The sheet of the one-inch Ordnance Survey map of England shows Westerham, Kent, near Churchill's home at
Chartwell. A note on the back says that it was 'reputedly used in 1940 in connection with the
defence of SE England'. It claims that it 'was used by Churchill at "Tall Trees"' [as yet
unidentified]. An arrow on the map points to 'Charts Edge', about a mile south-east of Westerham. The map is to be sold by Shropshire auctioneer Mullock Madeley at
Ludlow Racecourse on June 7th.

Map Library at Indiana University to close?

May 5. <
http://www.idsnews.com/news/story.php?id=35831&adid=campus > 'Four libraries facing
closures. SLIS Library to close permanently this summer' (by Carrie Ritchie in the Indiana
Daily Student). The Map Library is one of four Indiana University
campus libraries threatened with imminent closure. However, protests are making the
administration review the decision. Much of the piece is about this one library. Kelly Caylor,
professor of ecohydrology, said that the library was 'critical to the daily activity of (his)
discipline', and grad student Todd Lindley commented, 'Removing the map library - and hence,
the maps - will eradicate a very valuable teaching resource from our department and campus.
For geographers, removing the map library from the building is like removing a projector from
an electronic classroom'.

Military Landscapes of 18th Century Scotland (PhD Studentship)

May 4. "The University of Edinburgh Institute of Geography and the National
Library of Scotland Map Library are pleased to announce a collaborative research studentship
on: 'Constructing the Military Landscape: the Board of Ordnance Maps and Plans of Scotland,
c.1707-c.1815'". The 3-year studentship, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council,
will begin in October 2006 [with closing date of 16 June]. [via MapHist].

Map findings at the University of Tulsa

May 2. <
http://www.tulsaworld.com/NewsStory.asp?ID=060502_Ne_A15_Inval2006 > 'Rare maps at TU may be
worth more than one wants to know ' (by April Marciszewski in the Tulsa World).
Under the heartening heading 'Research called more important than sticker
price', it continues: 'This historian and that librarian do not want to know how much these old
jewels of maps are worth. If it is millions, a far-off insurance company would dictate a vault,
perhaps, and white gloves for handling. Or worse, no touching at all.What is the point, ask
librarian I. Marc Carlson and history graduate student Mark Dolph. Why have maps that tell
stories if no one can pull them out and decipher them?' Dolph has been finding important
uncatalogued maps in the McFarlin Library and will add the details to the existing webpage.
Further evidence for my contention that the best place to find unrecognised material is in a
public collection.

A 'dynamic' new book

May 1. The press release for Seeing Through Maps: Many Ways To See The
World by Denis Wood, Ward L. Kaiser, and Bob Abramms claims that this 'dynamic' book
'challenges the popular world-view by questioning a number of map images and the specific
messages they communicate'. In addition,'a companion DVD, Many Ways to See the World, will be
available in July, 2006. It includes a 30 minute classroom film (suitable for junior high to
adult)'. You can assess it for yourself by reading Chapter 1 free online. As with
earlier titles by Denis Wood, this is an intentionally revisionary look at maps both old and
current.

David Thompson to be celebrated

April 27. <
http://www.rockymountainoutlook.ca/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=128&cat=44&id=638266&more= >
'Museum gives Thompson his due ' (by Rob Alexander in the Rocky Mountain Outlook).
"David Thompson, one of Canada’s greatest unsung heroes, is finally
getting the recognition he deserves, even if it is nearly 150 years too late. The writer,
naturalist, explorer, fur trader, surveyor and mapmaker is the subject of the upcoming North
American David Thompson Bicentennials Initiative that will span three years and include
numerous events throughout North America and England". Jack Nisbet, author of The Mapmaker’s
Eye: David Thompson on the Columbia Plateau, 1800-1812 and Sources of the River:
Tracking David Thompson Across Western North America, will be talking at the Canmore Museum
and Geoscience Centre (Alberta, Canada) on May 3.

Are the Chinese officially claiming to have discovered Australia?

April 26.
< http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,18927896-12332,00.html > 'Beware
fleets of fantasy. There is no evidence Chinese sailors first discovered Australia' (by Geoff
Wade in the Australian - Higher Education [sub-titled 'Keeping the nation informed' - of
interest in the context of Gavin Menzies being invited to deliver a prestigious lecture at the
University of Melbourne]). One aspect of genuine interest in the
Menzies/Liu Gang affair is the official Chinese attitude to claims that Zheng He reached
Australia in the 15th century. Geoff Wade shows that, contrary to earlier reports, this has and
is happening - though it is not necessarily the formal official line.

'Mapping the White Mountains' exhibit at Harvard's Pusey Library

April 25. " 'Mapping the White Mountains' features the early mapping of New Hampshire's
majestic mountains from 1677 - 1988. The exhibit includes John Foster's Map of
New England in 1677, Blanchard and Langdon's 1761 map of New Hampshire,
Holland's 1784 map, a rare Carrigain edition, AMC maps, USGS maps, and
Washburn's 1988 Mount Washington. (Through July 2006)" [via MapHist; a post on 26 April announced that there was an exhibition catalogue].

Scholarly fight-back against the Menzies myths

April 24. 1421 Exposed: Scholars Respond to Liu and Menzies [via The Map Room
weblog] "1421
Exposed, which will be officially launched on May 1, is a web site put together by
academics and researchers to combat Gavin Menzies’s theory that the Chinese discovered the
world in the 15th century, and, in particular, to refute the authenticity of Liu Gang’s
purported 1418 map of the world. Via MapHist." [I had given up reading about the fictions of
Menzies and his cohorts, but this deserves to be highlighted. The site, even if not yet
complete, is already worth a look]

'Sea of Japan' or 'East Sea'?

April 21. <
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=
2006-04-21T173742Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-245807-1.xml&archived=False > 'S.Korea, Japan's
troubled history of name and blame' (by Jon Herskovitz from Reuters India).
"What's in a name? Quite a lot when it comes to fights between South Korea and Japan
over some tiny islands, the body of water that separates the wrangling neighbours and features
deep beneath that sea. The most recent spat is over a Japanese plan to conduct a nautical
survey near a set of desolate islets that both countries claim. Koreans call them Tokto,
Japanese call them Takeshima." South Korean is objecting to the use of 'Sea of Japan',
preferring 'East Sea' instead. For a cartographic analysis from the Japanese side, see 'Changing
in the Name of the "Japan Sea"'.

Maps on exhibit in Corvallis, Oregon

April 20. <
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2006/04/22/entertainment/cover/cov04.txt > 'Maps key to
understanding history: Collector of classic cartography shows the world at OSU through September' (by
Mary Ann Albright in the Corvallis Gazette-Times). Featuring an exhibition
at Oregon State University's < http://oregonstate.edu/dept/humanities/art.html >
Center for the Humanities in Corvallis of 51 maps from the collection of Duncan Thomas, professor
of forest science at OSU. The maps, from the 15th century, cover various parts of the world and are a
'record of not only geography, but also public opinion'.

US road maps, past and present

April 17. <
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060424fa_fact > 'Getting there: the science
of driving directions' (by Nick Paumgarten in the New Yorker).
An extended, entertainly written piece, relating US road maps of the past, from Andrew McNally
II in 1907, to their online descendants. The interviewees include Jim Akerman and Kenneth
Nebenzahl. [Via The Map Room weblog, with additional comments from Cartography blog].

Death of Walter Ristow

April 16. <
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/15/AR2006041500811.html > 'A
Local Life: Walter W. Ristow. Cartography Expert Knew Maps Were About More Than Travel' (by
Matt Schudel in the Washington Post).
Personal and official reminiscences of Dr. Walter W. Ristow, former chief of the Geography
and Map Division of the Library of Congress (1968-78), who died on April 3, 2006, aged 97. The
Walter W. Ristow Fund was set up to support research and writing about the cartographic
collections of the Library of Congress. [Earlier announcements and obituaries (from April
4) can be retrieved via the MapHist Archive].

Zheng He exhibition in Bangladesh

April 5. <
http://www.thedailystar.net/2006/04/05/d604051401108.htm > 'Envoy of Peace from China: An
ancient mariner and his quests' (by Karim Waheed in The Daily Star [Dhaka]).
About an exhibition, at
the Bangladesh National Museum, Shahbagh, from 3-15 April. It celebrates the remarkable voyages
of Zheng He and has been mounted by the Chinese embassy. There is no reference to the
1418/1763 map [see under March 18, 2006].

'The Geographic Revolution in Early America'

April 4. < http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2006/apr/bruckner040406.html >
'Book focuses on geography's link to early American history' (by Sue Moncure in the University
of Delaware U-Daily).
About 'The Geographic Revolution in Early America: Maps, Literacy and
National Identity' by Martin Brückner, associate professor of English [published by the
University of North Carolina Press in February]. 'Brückner focuses on the effects of geography
as a form of literature and how a geographically literate population shaped early American
history...Geography books
and maps were very popular, and textbooks played an important role and taught many Americans
not only about the land but also how to read and write.'

World maps at the Boston Public Library

April 2 [date posted]. Journeys of the Imagination.
An
exhibition of World Maps from the Cartographic Collections of the Norman B. Leventhal Map
Center at the Boston Public Library, 21 March-18 August 2006; from the 15th century to the
present day; there will be an exhibition catalogue, and, in May, a 'virtual tour' is due to be
added; for a sample view of the display see a page on Flickr; see also a
further description from < http://www.wfsb.com/Global/story.asp?S=4763282 >World Now (13 April?); and the entry for 5 July 2006.

Road survey of Westchester, N.Y. on display

March 31. <
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/NEWS02/603310423/1018 >
'Rare map goes on display in Rye ' (by Liz Sadler in the Journal News [Westchester, New
York]). A 13-foot MS map by Joseph Mangin, a well-known New York
surveyor, c. 1800, of the Boston Post Road corridor from Mamaroneck to Port Chester. It was
commissioned by the Westchester Turnpike Co. The map, owned by High Ridge Books in Larchmont,
will be on display at the Knapp House in Rye throughout April.

Vulnerability of maps to theft recognised

March 28. <
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1741060,00.html > 'Hot Rocks and The Book of Snuff:
British Library reveals its missing list' (by Patrick Barkham in the [London] Guardian).
Including the following comment: 'According to the library, the most serious thefts are the
carefully targeted removal of antique maps and plates from rare books by professional thieves'.

Library of Congress online exhibition

March 28. Maps in our lives.
Divided into Surveying, GIS, Cartography, Geodesy, and featuring material from other
collections as well, this comprises mostly recent thematic maps (including David Woodward's
'Cultural Map of Wisconsin'), but starts with George Washington's farm through time - a
reflection of a physical exhibition in the James Madison Building until January 6, 2007,
clebrating a 30-year partnership with the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.

The Norfolk town of Diss in 1637

March 20. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/norfolk/4827296.stm
> 'Campaign to save ancient town map' (from BBC News) .
A campaign 'to raise
thousands of pounds' to enable Norfolk Record Office to acquire the map of Diss, hand-drawn on
six sheepskins in 1637. [See entry of 4 July 2006 for the happy outcome].

Exhibition about the Dutch discovery of Australia

March 20. < http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/history-lessons-handed-over-on-a-plate/2006/03/19/1142703218040.html >
'History lessons handed over on a plate' (by Steve Meacham in the Sydney Morning Herald).
The exhibition, 'First sight: the Dutch mapping of Australia 1606-1697' (to run until 4th
June at the < http://www.atmitchell.com/Events/exhibitions/2006/firstsight/about.cfm > State Library of New South Wales), focussing on the 'Hartog Plate', which
recorded the arrival of the Eendracht in 1616. The exhibition includes maps.

Latest 'news' on the 1418/1763 Chinese map

March 18. See the post by Michael Ross to the MapHist list about a questionable carbon dating exercise. [For a previous note on the claims made for this map see under January 12, 2006, and
for subsequent MapHist posts see its Archive, from 18 March onwards. The Map Room had a blog on 23 March, 'Chinese Map Controversy: Liu Gang’s Press Conference']

Mapping through time in Portland, Maine

March 10 < http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/business/stories/060310orbis.shtml >
'History meets GIS technology' (by Matt Wickenheiser in the Portland Press Herald - about
Orbis, based in Portland, Maine, that 'combines cutting-edge geographic information computer
technology with historic maps, records and other information'. Examples of their mapping
through time are included in the current Osher Map Library exhibition The Changing Peninsula: Two Centuries of
Portland Maps and City Views).

Cartography: 'an art that did not know that it was going to be a science'

March 3. < http://www.whig.com/304684497196057.php > 'Map exhibit opens
in Mark Twain museum' (in the Quincey Herald-Whig - "[Mark Twain] Boyhood Home and Museum and the
Hannibal Free Public Library will open "Mapping Missouri," an exhibit from the Missouri State
Archives, on Saturday [March 4th]... It will be on view until April 23...This exhibit features
more than 100 maps from the Missouri State Archives' collection, some of which have never been
shown before").

Map exhibition in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

February 28 <
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/entertainment/13979356.htm > 'Antique
maps show Horry district' (in Sun News - 'The Franklin G. Burroughs-Simeon B. Chapin Art
Museum opens the exhibit "The Mapmakers' Art: The Bishop Collection of Antique Maps: 1608-1863"
at 10 a.m. today. It will run through March 26. The historic maps collection includes an 1825
map of the Horry District by Robert Mills and naturalist Mark Catesby's 1731 work, "A Natural
History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands" ' - strangely the Museum < http://www.myrtlebeachartmuseum.org/opening.html?PHPSESSID=dff47260491b774268bac1256dae8139 >
website makes no mention of this; elsewhere the exhibit is said to have 30 antique maps).

February 22. The publishers of
Imago Mundi (Routledge) have put up for free viewing (< http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a741574814 >) a review article by Professor P.D.A.
Harvey about the Vinland Map - see the posting to the MapHist list].

Florida maps on exhibit

February 21. Smathers Libraries’
Caribbean collection exhibited at Miami museum ('An exhibition of highlights from the
University of Florida’s George A. Smathers Libraries’ Caribbean archival and library materials
will open Feb. 24 at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida in Miami. The exhibition,
"Caribbean Collage: Archival Collections and the Construction of History", spans five centuries
of Caribbean history and focuses on the British West Indies, Haiti and Cuba from the 18th to
the early 20th century.' The exhibition runs until 4 June 2006).

February 14. An article by David Y. Allen in <
http://www.stonybrook.edu/libmap/coordinates/contents.htm > Coordinates:
Online Journal of the Map and Geography Round Table, American Library Association, ser. A,
no.5 (February 14, 2006) argues that the Velasco Map is a fake. He is backed up by a companion
commentary from Kirsten A. Seaver. The map, drawn about 1610 and supposedly sent by the Spanish
ambassador in London to Philip II was 'discovered' in the Archivo General de Simancas in 1887
and has featured prominently in histories of cartography since.

Only adventurous historians need apply

February 9 < http://news.alpinezone.com/7920/ > 'Yearning for Winter? Mount
Washington Awaits' (from AlpineZone News - describing an overnight 'EduTrip' on March 16-17
to look at the 'history of mapping Mount Washington [New Hampshire], including use of the new
GPS technology'; it could prove to be a lively stay since 'the highest wind ever recorded on
earth, a remarkable 231 miles per hour, was measured on Mount Washington on April 12,
1934').

More on the Artimedorus map

February 8. < http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20060206/papyrus_arc.html >
'Papyrus Reveals Ancient Stories' (by Rossella Lorenzi in Discovery News [Discovery Channel] -
the 1st-century B.C. papyrus fragments, about to go on display in Turin's Palazzo
Bricherasio for three months, contain a text about Spain with spaces left for maps (one of
which was filled) - with illustrations (not of the map)). [See under 5 January 2006.]

Exhibition in Rome [posted 11 February]

February 7 <
http://www.culturalweb.it/articles/detail.aspx?id=029db584-be1f-4921-aca7-51039ed8b4a6 >
'Antica cartografia d'Italia dal cinquecento al risorgimento' (from CulturalWeb.it -
Italian commentary on the exhibition (with the title above) from 8-19 February 2006 at the
Complesso del Vittoriano, Rome, showing about 70 varied maps of Italy (15th-19th
century) ["to read the map of Italy is to describe the nation"] from the Collezione Gianni
Brandozzi di Ascoli Piceno; there is an accompanying catalogue).

"Chicago in Maps: 1612 to 2002"

February 6. <
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/nation/13803728.htm> 'Collector charts the story
of Chicago's journey from swamp to big city' (by Charles Leroux in the Chicago Tribune -
about Robert A. Holland's recently published "Chicago in Maps: 1612 to 2002" (Rizzoli, 208
pages, $50), which includes panoramic views ). [See also comment in The Map Room weblog).]

Undersea looters use charts from the Archive of the Indies

February 6. < http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,1703259,00.html >
'Spanish police arrest galleon plunderers' (by Dale
Fuchs in the Guardian [London] - 'Spanish police have broken up a ring of undersea looters who have
spent the last two years allegedly plundering the archaeological treasures of Spanish galleons
and other historic ships that sank off the coast of southern Spain... The treasure-hunters
apparently located the pieces using maps translated from old Spanish and photocopies of other
documents found in the Archive of the Indies, in Seville').

Post D-Day maps used by the Allied Forces

February 2. The Library of Congress has added to its 'American Memory'collection, 'World War II Military
Situation Maps 1944-1945' - 416 printed maps, in MrSID format,
and 115 reports, giving daily details on the military campaigns in Western Europe from D-Day to
July 1945; including a Flash 'interactive essay', The Battle of
the Bulge, which includes a slide show, detailed views of selected maps, and commentary and
analysis from Library of Congress curators on the course of the battle). See the LC announcement via the MapHist Archive.

Soleto Map a fake?

February 1. 'World's oldest map' a fake? (Soleto map 5th century BC) - message to
the MapHist list from Peter van der Krogt, who summarises the claim by the Dutch archaeologist
Douwe Yntema that the map [on which see under November 18, 2005] is a fake; the original
note appeared in print as: 'Ontdekking "oudste kaart" een grap?', Geschiedenis Magazine 41, 1
(Jan-Feb 2006), p.5). [See also, via The Map Room, further comments and links on the Kartentisch blog.]

Appalachia maps displayed

January 30. < http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16033392&BRD=1283&PAG=461&dept_id=158544&rfi=6 >
'Map display comes to AHS Saturday, Sunday. The idea for staging this weekend's public viewing
of a host of local and regional turn-of-the-century maps originated, in part, from a casual
conversation between two local history buffs' (by Ida Holyfield in Coalfield.com - about
finding maps, from the 1890s, which went on display at Appalachia High School, Virginia).

Caribbean map exhibition

January 29. <
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/miami-
dade/cities_neighborhoods/pinecrest/13733234.htm > 'Charting the past: rare maps of Cuba,
Hispanola, Martinique and Guadalupe from the 16th-20th centuries provide thought-provoking
windows into history, culture and geography' (by Adriana Martinez in the Miami Herald -
about an exhibition from the Claude Alix Collection, at the Deering Estate's Richmond Cottage, Miami-Dade County, 21 January-26 March 2006, 'Cuba and the Caribbean in Old Maps').

NOAA exhibition in February

January 27. <
http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2006/jan06/noaa06-r404.html > 'New NOAA exhibit
celebrates nearly 200 years of science and service' (Press Release: Artifacts, including
early scientific instruments, maps and charts, will be on public display at the agency’s
headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., February 6-11, 2006 during the second annual NOAA Heritage
Week - via The Map Room weblog).

Siamese maps exhibited

January 23. <
http://www.manager.co.th/IHT/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9490000009560 > 'Mapping history. Forget
Google Earth. These maps offer insight into countries you can’t see anymore' (by Lim Li Min in
the Thaiday - about a group of 17 manuscript Siamese maps, of a type not otherwise known in
Thailand, discovered in 1996 and assigned to the period 1782-1851, which can be seen at the Jim
Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, in an exhibition entitled 'Siam in Trade and War - Royal Maps of
the Nineteenth Century', from January 28 to March 31). [See also notice from Francis
Herbert, in the MapHist Archive, with details of a 2004 book on these maps].

Yale to digitise its early maps

January 15. <
http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-smiley0115.artjan15,0,6000647.story?coll=hc-headlines-home
> 'Rare Documents Going Digital. Yale May Join Libraries Using Technology Against Theft Of
Originals' (by Kim Martineau in the Hartford
Courant - about the temporary closure of Yale's map collections, the
dismissal of its map curator, and proposals to digitise its rarer maps). [Text also available via ExLibris].

Maltese maps to be digitised

January 14. < http://217.145.4.56/ind/news.asp?newsitemid=26662 > 'Maltacom
sponsors digitisation of private map collection' (in the Malta Independent Online - about
the cataloguing and digitisation of the 600-item collection of maps of Malta owned by Dr Alberto
Ganado; there is no mention of web access). [Text also available via the MapHist Archive].

Unconvincing claim for a 1418 Chinese circumnavigation

January 12. <
http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5381851 > 'China beat Columbus to it,
perhaps. An ancient map that strongly suggests Chinese seamen were first round the world' (in The
Economist - about a Chinese map (illustrated here in low resolution - but see a large, very slow-
loading image < http://files.blog-city.com/files/N04/80559/b/1418map.jpg >), owned by the
collector Liu Gang, dated 1418 but apparently in a 'copy' of 1763 [though showing what appear to be
similar outlines to those of 17th-century European cartographers], including the continent of America,
being given a worldwide public launch to show, in the words of the press release, 'that it was Zheng
He, a Chinese admiral, who discovered America, not Christopher Columbus'). [See also the discussion
on the MapHist Archive from
this date, almost all of it sceptical - in particular a translated article by
Prof. Gong Ying-yan; and other links, e.g. to articles in The Times and The Independent, provided by
Doug Weller; and a good summary of the discussion (3 February 2006) on The Map Room weblog).]

'World's oldest map'? [again!]

January 5. <
http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-01-05_2278607.html > 'Turin to reveal
world's oldest map: Papyrus of Artemidorus on show on eve of Winter Olympics' (from ANSA.it -
'the 1st-century-BC Papyrus of Artemidorus, which contains the map, will go on display for
the first time ever at the city's Palazzo Bricherasio (< http://www.palazzobricherasio.it/
> - select 'Calendario') from February 8 to May 7...It features the account of a trip to
Spain of a previously obscure Greek geographer, Artemidorus of Ephesus, and the map, which is
unfinished and impossible to relate to any particular region. But what counts is that it shows
roads, rivers and settlements in an attempt to depict realistic spatial arrangements; something
which makes it the first example of the kind of map used today' [there is a small,
indistinct illustration] - via Angie Cope and MapHist). [Please note the article on this map by
Barbel Kramer in Imago Mundi
,53 (2001), pp. 115-120]